Sale have dropped Danny Cipriani for their round five Aviva Premiership clash with Bath at the Recreation Ground.

The Sharks are currently in the midst of a dreadful run of form having lost their opening four matches this season. They promised much with the big name signings of Richie Gray and Cipriani but with just four matches gone, CEO Steve Diamond has acted quickly to try and stop the rot by sacking forwards coach Steve Scott.

While change is occurring in the backroom side of the club, coach Bryan Redpath has also shuffled his pack in an attempt to stop the rot. Cipriani is benched for the match with Bath with Nick Macleod starting in one of six changes from the side that lost to London Welsh. Gray is out injured while the most notable inclusion is youngster James Doyle who will make his debut for the Sharks.

"There are opportunities for some of the younger boys in the club," Redpath said. "It's been tough after last Friday's match and what followed at the weekend. We're desperate to get another game under our belt because some of the parts of last week's match weren't what we expected.

"James Doyle and Nathan Fowles are two young members of the group. James has played exceptionally well for the Jets. He's come in and worked really hard to put pressure on others at the club. They both need to go out and enjoy the game as much as they can.

"Last season, Sale Sharks went to Bath on the back of a disappointing home performance and won, later going on to complete a double. As I've said, last week was unacceptable and hopefully we can show a big improvement."